The Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department (PBCWUD) celebrated the grand opening of the Western Region Operations Center (WROC) with a ceremony at the facility on Tuesday, October 31, 2017.

Located on 10 acres adjacent to Water Treatment Plant 11, WROC will function as the staging point for PBCWUD operations and maintenance personnel who serve the western part of Palm Beach County. The facility, which was built in three phases, took 18 months to complete, with nearly 22 percent of the construction labor coming from Glades contractors while 40 percent was furnished by Small Business Enterprises.

WROC is the first facility in the Glades area built from the ground up to meet EPA Green Building Standards, as certified by the Florida Green Building Coalition. During construction, recycled or easily sustainable materials were utilized and resource-efficient innovations, such as LED lighting with automatic turn-off motion sensors and low-flow plumbing fixtures, as well as an energy-efficient water-chilled air conditioning system, were installed. Additionally, drought-tolerant vegetation around the exterior of the building makes WROC one of the greenest facilities in Palm Beach County.

The facility is rated to withstand Category 5 hurricane force winds and will act as the Water Utilities Department's Western Region Emergency Operations Center in the event of a storm.

To find the most up-to-date information concerning the Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department water distribution and wastewater collection systems, follow the department on Facebook and Twitter @PBCWUD.